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Here are some gifts I made earlier, in true Blue Peter style. And while it’s not quite the same sewing hit as making a garment to wear, it’s a good feeling to give friends gifts you’ve made yourself. (As long as they like them of course…) So, I give you – or even them – the leopard skin make-up bag and the big cat collar.

Miaow!

As I seem to spend most of my time either reading sewing blogs, musing on sewing projects or actually sewing, I find the short synopses that many sewists share very helpful.

I thought this fabric might spew fur like a spewy thing when cut, but because it was short pile it didn’t, so much so I could attach a small zip pull to the make-up bag quite easily. The only challenge for this Panda was the lining fabric that slinked around and I even managed to cover the zip ends as per the instructions.

A covered zip end will hopefully give some degree of permanence to this gift, she said hopefully

As you can see, I artfully filled the bag with tissue paper to help it look less floppy (a bit of interfacing in construction would have helped I suppose) and then added a lovely red lipstick and matching nail varnish. I didn’t make these. The gift was well-received (I hope) and I plan to make some more as wash bags for the male species children of the house. They will be clean and tidy. Sewing across the pointy corners should, in theory any way, help the bags to stand up; I think this would work better with different fabric and a waterproof lining both of which just happened to arrive at my door in the last two weeks…

The furry detachable big cat collar was easy peasy to construct as you’d expect from the wonderful Tilly and I whipped up two in one evening. I made one with the same lining fabric I’d used for the make-up bag and the second I used an off-cut of organic pin-stripe cotton. The latter will be the gift as, quite frankly, it’s better!

This is the third Tilly pattern I’ve used and she’s just fab, always making me feel like a remotely proficient seamstress. Her instructions are always clear and detailed, perfect for the beginner or rusty sewer like me. I was quietly amused (as I am a lot of the time) to realise that the collar will be for my dear friend Polly Pocket, from a pattern by Tilly Button.

Anyway, I’ll be back, in true Arnie style very soon, having completed another garment this week. My anxious/furious sewing was fuelled while listening to a rather important footie match on the radio. All’s well that ends well this time for Sunderland FC. A new top and a cup final to look forward to: Wednesdays don’t get much better than that.

Back soon!

And sewing aside for one moment, who else could I turn to (lyrically) after a victory over Manchester Utd in a cup semi-final?

‘It’s more than a feeling, when I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)